Merit Financial Group LLC Increases Stake in UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH - Free Report) by 39.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,573 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 5,784 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in UnitedHealth Group were worth $10,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in UNH. Waycross Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $14,060,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in UnitedHealth Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $515,000. Full Sail Capital LLC increased its position in shares of UnitedHealth Group by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Full Sail Capital LLC now owns 1,612 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $815,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Soros Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UnitedHealth Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,413,000. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its holdings in UnitedHealth Group by 47.8% during the 4th quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 38,796 shares of the healthcare conglomerate's stock worth $19,625,000 after purchasing an additional 12,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at UnitedHealth Group

In other news, Director Timothy Patrick Flynn bought 1,533 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $320.80 per share, with a total value of $491,786.40. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 6,033 shares in the company, valued at $1,935,386.40. The trade was a 34.07% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John F. Rex purchased 17,175 shares of UnitedHealth Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $291.12 per share, with a total value of $4,999,986.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 203,796 shares in the company, valued at $59,329,091.52. This trade represents a 9.20% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders bought a total of 109,408 shares of company stock worth $31,607,768 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

UnitedHealth Group Stock Performance

UNH traded down $4.77 during trading on Thursday, reaching $295.61. 12,169,188 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,930,960. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated has a 1 year low of $248.88 and a 1 year high of $630.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $268.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.56. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $418.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $488.12.

UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The healthcare conglomerate reported $7.20 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.29 by ($0.09). UnitedHealth Group had a return on equity of 26.69% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $109.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $111.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that UnitedHealth Group Incorporated will post 29.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank downgraded UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of UnitedHealth Group from $525.00 to $405.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on UnitedHealth Group from $563.00 to $374.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $308.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of UnitedHealth Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UnitedHealth Group has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $428.43.

About UnitedHealth Group

UnitedHealth Group Incorporated operates as a diversified health care company in the United States. The company operates through four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx. The UnitedHealthcare segment offers consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services for national employers, public sector employers, mid-sized employers, small businesses, and individuals; health care coverage, and health and well-being services to individuals age 50 and older addressing their needs; Medicaid plans, children's health insurance and health care programs; and health and dental benefits, and hospital and clinical services, as well as health care benefits products and services to state programs caring for the economically disadvantaged, medically underserved, and those without the benefit of employer-funded health care coverage.